The Next Year
by Echocaz
Summary: Harry Potter has left Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort has been defeated. But what becomes of those students left behind? When Kestrel Everett, now in her second year, receives her new booklist, will she want to go back to the school that ruined her childhood? A/N: This is my first fanfic, constructive criticism is appreciated.
1. Chapter 1 - The Letter

**Chapter 1 - The Letter**

Kestrel Everett was a small girl whose long raven hair was, in her opinion, one of her only redeeming features, the other being her intelligence. She was twelve years old and did not consider herself particularly brave. This was evidenced by her shaking hands which were, at that moment, clutching a thick parchment envelope as she watched the owl that had delivered it soaring away through the window. This was a school letter.

Kestrel didn't go to just any school though. She was a Witch, and that meant she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Or, at least, she thought she did, but the previous school year had ended on such an uncertain note, what with the evacuation, that she wasn't even sure it was still standing. From the letter in her trembling hands she guessed it probably was, however precariously.

Kestrel had not had a great first year at Hogwarts, which was a real shame. She'd been excited to discover a letter waiting for her on her eleventh birthday last year telling her she was a Witch, but thought it had been a joke until a stray cat had walked purposefully into her back garden and transformed into the acting Headmistress of Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall had explained to both of Kestrel's shellshocked fathers that magic was, in fact, real and that their excited daughter was invited to attend the best school for magical children in the world. Kestrel didn't think either of her fathers would have believed it if they hadn't just seen a cat transform into a woman.

Professor McGonagall had failed to mention the magical war raging around them until Kestrel had asked about the 'monsters' she'd seen gliding around outside sometimes. Her fathers had, of course, assumed they were imaginary until the Professor explained what Dementors were; soul-sucking creatures that caused depression and were invisible to muggles. She'd had to explain what muggles were too, of course. Kestrel's fathers had been less willing to let her attend after that, but their daughter had been so excited by the idea, and Professor McGonagall had persuaded them that she'd only learn how to fight the creatures at that school.

So they'd gone to a little street just off Charing Cross Road called Diagon Alley, which Professor McGonagall assured them would have everything their daughter would need for school. It had confused both her fathers to no end when they'd needed to follow Kestrel through the doors of a pub their eyes simply didn't want to look at to get there.

Kestrel saw things that day she'd never even dreamt of; so many that she never thought to question why half the shops were closed. There were Goblins at the bank. Goblins! And there were all sorts of weird pets for sale; she hadn't been allowed to get the fire-breathing salamander she'd wanted, but her biological father, Peter relented and bought her a Little Owl for her birthday, which she promptly named Athena. She was only about twenty centimetres tall and looked absolutely miniscule when compared to the Tawny, Barn and Screech owls all vying for attention. Anyone looking at the girl's face knew she wasn't going to leave the store without that tiny ball of feathers once she'd seen her.

Then they'd bought her school robes at Madam Malkin's, and all her new and exciting school books at Flourish and Blott's. If her other father, Dan hadn't dragged her out of the shop she would have happily stayed there all day. They got her a cauldron and lots of weird potions ingredients at the Apothecary, but what had excited Kestrel the most was getting her wand. She'd been heartbroken at the sight of the boarded-up windows, but a tinkling bell behind them as they were leaving told them that the wand shop was still open for business. It turned out that the previous wand seller, Mr Ollivander Sr, had been kidnapped and so his son, Mr Ollivander Jr, was taking extra precautions, quite reasonably.

Kestrel had only tried three wands before she'd been handed one that sent warm tingles up her right arm and shot red and gold sparks when waved. Her wand, of which she was immensely proud, was ten inches long and made of hazel wood, with a Unicorn tail hair at its core. She didn't entirely understand what all that meant, but she loved it all the same.

The rest of the day had passed in a bit of a blur after that, though she'd been allowed a brief trip into an exciting looking joke shop called Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, where her fathers had permitted her one purchase. She'd wanted a daydream charm, but they weren't being sold to anyone under sixteen, so she'd decided on a cloak that provided the wearer with a shield charm capable of deflecting minor to moderate hexes and jinxes. Had Kestrel known then how much she'd need it at school she might have asked for two.

Kestrel's first year at Hogwarts had seen her wonder and delight with the magical world snatched away from her sharply and painfully. So much so that she wasn't at all sure she wanted to go back. Only her curiosity told her she would return regardless.

A greasy-haired, hook-nosed, unpleasant looking Wizard called Professor Snape had taken over as Headmaster. He had, her fellow Ravenclaws informed her with certainty, killed the longstanding previous Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. Then there were the Carrows, brother and sister Amycus and Alecto, in charge of discipline. Kestrel hadn't understood everything she'd been told, but they all seemed to be followers of a Dark Wizard whose name she never learned because everyone called him 'You-Know-Who' or 'The Dark Lord'.

Then a sixth year Ravenclaw called Luna Lovegood had been kidnapped from the train back to school after Christmas, and a Gryffindor girl in the same year with red hair hadn't come back after Easter. Then the Carrows had found out she had non-magical parents, at least as far as they could work out since Kestrel wasn't at all sure who her mother actually was, and chained Kestrel up in the dungeons for being a 'mudblood'. A sixth year Ravenclaw called Michael Corner was tortured when they discovered him freeing her and what little resistance there had been seemed to have ebbed away after that.

A wave of excitement had washed over the school when a boy called Harry Potter and his friends appeared out of nowhere to fight, but students under seventeen, with one or two exceptions, had been evacuated before the fighting began in earnest and Kestrel had heard nothing from the magical world since. Her belongings and Athena had appeared about a week after she got home, and the Dementors had disappeared, so she assumed they'd won, but nobody had told her anything. Until now, that was.

Kestrel held the thick yellow parchment envelope in her trembling hands, completely forgetting her breakfast as the memories of the previous year came flooding back.

"Aren't you going to open it?" Peter asked gently.

Kestrel hadn't told them much about her year away at school, it would only have worried them, and she was sure some of what they'd been taught should be illegal. They seemed to know something was wrong though.

Gingerly, Kestrel slid her finger under the wax seal bearing the Hogwarts crest and pulled the parchment letter out of its envelope.

 _HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

 _Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall_

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class)_

 _Dear Miss Everett,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that your place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is secure. The unfortunate events of last year shall not be repeated under ANY circumstances, and we sincerely apologise for any and all harm done. Professor Snape died during the battle, and the despicable Carrow siblings are serving a lifetime in Azkaban. The castle has been repaired over the Summer, and we look forward to your return._

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Pomona Sprout_

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Enclosed was her train ticket for the Hogwarts Express leaving from Platform nine and three quarters at eleven o'clock on September the first, and a new list of textbooks including _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two_ by Miranda Goshawk and _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble. That was new. The previous year the school had taught Dark Arts, it seemed they'd be learning defence this year. Maybe this year would be better after all. Kestrel's heart had leapt and her stomach unclenched when she'd read Professor McGonagall named as Headmistress again.

"Well, what does it say?" Dan asked.

Kestrel handed over only the new booklist, saying

"New textbooks I need."

"I suppose we'll have to go back to that high street," Dan sighed, adding quietly "it looked quite run-down."

Kestrel hadn't really noticed that last time, she'd been much too excited.

They decided to get her new school things the next Saturday.


	2. Chapter 2 - Going Back

**Chapter 2 - Going Back**

Diagon Alley had changed. Gone were all those 'Undesirable No. 1' posters and the shabby stalls selling trinkets on the sides of the cobbled road. The shop fronts were bright and colourful and looked far more inviting than last time. The ice cream parlour was still closed, but Ollivander's Wands had unboarded its windows and a much older man was shuffling about inside. The Alley was bustling with cheerful Witches and Wizards in all sorts of colourful robes.

The Everett family's first stop was the bank, where they once again exchanged normal money for the magical sort, this time under the watchful eyes of several Goblins, two Wizards and an impressively clean Security Troll. Apparently there had been a particularly nasty break-in towards the beginning of Summer and they weren't taking any chances. There were deep claw marks in the white marble on both the inside and outside of the building, and Kestrel heard an excited teenager telling his friend

"That's where they escaped on the Dragon!"

They bought some owl treats for Athena, who had been Kestrel's best friend over the summer, and restocked her potions ingredients before heading to the bookshop. Kestrel had loved browsing Flourish and Blott's last year and this year proved no different. The store was, possibly, more fascinating this time. Her fathers allowed Kestrel two additional books; _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ , which seemed to be full of Wizarding fairytales, and _Magic for the Mundane_ , a book containing useful spells and potions for everyday tasks and chores.

Kestrel was also in dire need of more ink and parchment, not to mention a new quill. She'd broken her old one doodling, of all things! Her fathers bought her a sturdier looking eagle feather quill, two bottles of ink and more parchment than she could hope to carry around school. They were just leaving the store when Kestrel almost walked head first into a very familiar girl with dirty-blonde hair and a permanently surprised look on her face.

"Sorry, Luna" Kestrel said a little nervously.

"Oh, Kestrel, hello." Luna Lovegood smiled dreamily, as though she'd only just noticed Kestrel was there.

"Friend of yours?" Peter asked as he and Dan joined them.

"Yes, sort of, I mean-" she faltered.

"I helped you with your homework" supplied Luna "I'd say we're friends now, wouldn't you?"

"Er, yeah, I guess I would. Thanks." Kestrel added earnestly, and she got the feeling that Luna knew she wasn't just talking about being friends.

Luna Lovegood had not, as she'd put it, been 'helping with her homework'. Luna, along with Michael Corner and his friends Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein, and a seventh year girl called Cho Chang, had been teaching the first and second year Ravenclaws jinxes and counter-curses and shield charms and other useful spells up in their common room at the top of Ravenclaw Tower. Three years previously they'd all been part of a kind of gang called Dumbledore's Army, secretly training themselves to fight. Last year they'd formed the resistance against Professor Snape and the Carrows, and were one of the only reasons Kestrel and many of her classmates were still alive and relatively unscathed, at least physically. Mentally, there wasn't much anyone would be able to do for most of the students at Hogwarts that year.

"I'm Luna Lovegood" Luna said, holding a hand out to Peter, who shook it. "You're Kestrel's parents."

"Peter Everett, and my husband Dan." Luna shook his hand too, not bothering to ask which man, if either, Kestrel was related to, but since Kestrel looked so much like Peter it probably wasn't worth it anyway.

"Lovely to meet you, Luna." Dan said with a smile, but Luna was already miles away in her own head.

"Yes," she replied "but I need to get more ink for dad. Someone sent us a photo of a Crumple-Horned Snorklack and it's draining our supply."

Kestrel stepped aside and Luna entered the shop without another word.

"Strange girl…" said Dan quietly as they made their way back to The Leaky Cauldron.

"What's a Crumple-Nosed Snarklock?" Peter asked.

"Crumple-Horned Snorklack," Kestrel corrected "and I have no idea."

Kestrel doubted very much whether the photo was genuine, but she decided against mentioning that. She did, however, make a mental note to borrow Luna's copy of _The Quibbler_ at school and see for herself; no doubt it would be a cherished possession by then.

The last two weeks of Summer passed fairly quickly and Kestrel was soon at King's Cross station again, running trolley first at the metal barrier between platforms nine and ten, her fathers close behind. The scarlet steam engine looked much more impressive this year; cleaner and shinier, like someone had taken great pride in getting every particle of dirt off it.

At eleven o'clock the Hogwarts Express started moving, with Kestrel and Athena safely on board. The little owl had never really taken to being caged for the train journey, so settled herself on her favourite perch: Kestrel's shoulder. Having changed into her school robes and stowed her trunk safely in the luggage rack Kestrel headed for the corridor in the hopes of finding Luna and her photo of the elusive Crumple-Horned Snorklack.

She'd walked almost the entire length of the train, pausing now and then to greet a friend or two, before Kestrel finally found Luna. She was in a compartment with two other seventh year girls: the Gryffindor redhead who hadn't returned after Easter and a bushy-haired brunette Kestrel had never seen before. She knocked timidly on the compartment door and Luna waved her in, apparently explaining to her friends who Kestrel was.

"Sorry, I was wondering if you had a copy of The Quibbler, Luna. The one with the picture of the Snorklack?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I don't go anywhere without it." Luna beamed, reaching into her trunk.

"You mean you actually found one?" The redhead asked, amazed.

"No, not us." Luna sighed, disappointment on the edge of her voice. She pulled out a slightly creased copy of the magazine and handed it to Kestrel with a smile just as a second year Hufflepuff boy called Nathaniel Ford, who Kestrel was friends with, poked his head through the open doorway and grinned.

"Alright, mudblood, how was your summer?"

"Not bad thanks," Kestrel replied "yours?"

"Dad made me go fishing with him! Worst summer ever." Nathaniel sighed. "Well, see you." He was gone as quickly as he'd arrived.

Kestrel turned her attention to the magazine in her hands, already open at the right page. She examined the photo closely and concluded that, while it was definitely a little blurry, it still looked like something she'd never seen before. She was just about to say 'cool' and give it back when she realised the brunette girl was staring at her.

"What?" She asked, a little more defensively than she'd meant to.

"Why did you let him talk to you like that?" The brunette demanded, absolutely shocked.

"Like what?"

"Hermione, you weren't here last year." The redhead reminded her gently.

"Like what?" Kestrel asked again.

"He called you a mudblood." Hermione said, not quite believing she even needed to explain why that was a bad thing.

"Yeah? A lot of people do. I guess it's like a nickname or something. Why?" Kestrel asked, seeing the look of horror on Hermione's face. Luna quietly got up and closed the compartment door.

"It's a really foul term for someone with muggle parents." The redhead explained. "I didn't realise it had become so casual."

"How are you not horrified by this, Ginny?" Hermione gasped in disbelief.

"Like I said, you weren't here. You didn't see what it was like with Snape and the Carrows in charge."

"So school wasn't always like that?" Kestrel was slowly coming to terms with how much she didn't know. Ginny shook her head, but Hermione had buried her face in her hands.

"Kestrel's in second year now." Luna said, helpfully.

Hermione suddenly stood up and placed her hands on Kestrel's shoulders, carefully avoiding Athena, and looked right into Kestrel's sky blue eyes. "Don't ever let anyone call you a mudblood ever again, okay."

Kestrel nodded. This had been something of a revelation, she'd never really considered what the term might have meant before. Now that she'd been told, though, it seemed painfully obvious.

"Sorry." She said quietly.

"Don't apologise, learn." Said Hermione kindly. Kestrel nodded again and held _The Quibbler_ out to Luna, who took it distractedly.

Kestrel spent the rest of the train journey lost in thought. She left Luna and her friends fairly quickly after that conversation and went back to the compartment containing her trunk and Athena's cage at the other end of the train. It was still empty. There didn't seem to be as many students on the train this year, and the tone of the older teenagers tended to be quite subdued.

"You can tell which first years are muggle-borns." Said a voice in the corridor.

"You can?" Asked a second.

"They're the ones that are still excited to be here." Replied the first as three fourth year Gryffindor boys walked past Kestrel's open compartment door.

"Well, they don't know what happened, do they." Noted the third. The conversation continued down the corridor, but Kestrel wasn't listening anymore. Softly she closed the door and wondered whether or not she should have returned after all.

The train journey was relatively uneventful after that. At one point Kestrel had fallen asleep, only to be woken again by Athena's shrieking as a pair of Slytherin boys a lot bigger than her tried to hit the owl, who was hiding behind Kestrel's trunk, with levitating balls of parchment. They were eventually chased away by a Hufflepuff Prefect threatening to put them under the Imperius curse and make them do embarrassing things up and down the train. Kestrel had heard about that curse; it always sounded really bad, but she'd definitely have been up for watching that. Athena gave the Hufflepuff girl an affectionate nibble before she disappeared up the corridor again.

Kestrel spent the rest of the journey keeping herself awake in case the Slytherins came back by reading _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Two_ and trying out a few of the simpler ones. By the time the train had pulled into Hogsmead station she could successfully perform the freezing charm 'Immobulus' and the engorgement charm 'Engorgio'. Honestly, she was quite proud of herself. She only wished she'd had the time to get to grips with the tickling charm 'Rictumsempra', but the train had pulled into the station on her third attempt and Athena definitely did not look amused.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm still playing with the formatting because I'm doing this from my phone while on holiday. Hopefully, once I get home and have access to my computer again, I'll be able to make it look better/read easier.


	3. Chapter 3 - The New Hogwarts

**Chapter 3 - The New Hogwarts**

Once on the platform Kestrel could hear the booming voice of the frankly terrifying Hogwarts Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Hagrid, calling for the new first years to follow him. Wondering a little at how the rest of them were supposed to get up to the castle, Kestrel followed the crowd of older students to a long line of horseless carriages. At least, she thought they were horseless, but most of the older students and some of the younger ones were looking at the things apparently pulling them.

"Have they always been there?" A seventh year Slytherin asked. His friends shrugged.

"What are they?" Asked a fifth year Hufflepuff. Even some of the second and third years seemed able to see the infuriatingly invisible creatures.

"Thestrals" Luna's dreamy voice carried over the crowd.

"I've always wondered what they look like." Said Hermione's.

Kestrel looked around, confused. The three seventh year girls were standing by a carriage only a few feet from her, gazing at the invisible creature harnessed to it. She slipped through the crowd towards them quietly.

"They're sort of beautiful, in their own way." Ginny mused, apparently stroking thin air.

"Why can't I see them?" Kestrel asked, making both Gryffindor girls jump.

"They can only be seen by those who've witnessed death." Luna explained softly. Kestrel looked around at the sheer number of students, children really, who could see the Thestrals, and in that moment she understood more about the cost of war than she would ever have wanted to know.

Whispers of "Who was it for you?" travelled up and down the line of carriages, as though the question were being asked a hundred times. An aunt, a neighbour, someone's brother, a cousin, a stranger, a muggle, a friend. On and on the answers went as Hogwarts students finally began to share their experiences with each other. On the train Kestrel had heard about parties and celebrations across the Wizarding world, now those same students were touching upon how the war had affected them personally.

"Are you coming?" Luna asked, so Kestrel followed her into a carriage and it began to move. They were just passing another group of students when they heard a boy saying

"But Colin snuck back in and… And he never came home…"

"Dennis…" said Hermione sadly. The other two nodded. The carriage ride passed in silence after that.

The castle looked almost exactly as Kestrel remembered it. Several parts looked newer, and it looked like an entire wall had been replaced, but otherwise it was the same. The most notable differences were inside.

A statue had been erected in the Entrance Hall, depicting students and teachers, a centaur and a small humanoid creature with huge eyes and bat-like ears standing proud, but defensive. Several students were crowded around a plaque at the base. Being as small as she was Kestrel easily managed to weave through the crowd to read it.

 _In memory of those lives lost defending our school during the Second Wizarding War, 1998. May we always remember our friends._

Around the walls of the Entrance Hall hundreds of names had been carved. There was no distinction between student, staff or even house. No names were marked out as special or more important. Everyone was equal in death.

Kestrel spotted Luna and Hermione staring at the names 'Remus Lupin', 'Nymphadora Tonks', 'Sirius Black' and 'Dobby', who she suspected probably wasn't human given the lack of a surname. Ginny, however, was crying silently, her fingers tracing the carving that bore the name 'Fred Weasley'. Hermione approached her quietly, put a comforting arm around her and pulled out her wand. "Orchideous" she said softly, pointing her wand at the base of the wall, and a wreath of flowers bloomed under the names. Around the hall others were following suit and soon there were dozens of flowers and wreaths lining the walls.

The Entrance Hall wasn't the only thing to have changed. A confused crowd had formed just inside the doors to the Great Hall too, and when Kestrel had managed to squeeze her way to the front she understood why. The four long house tables had gone and dozens of smaller round ones were dotted around the hall in their place.

Professor McGonagall was standing before the High Table loudly saying "You may sit anywhere." Nobody moved. Not for a while. Not until Luna Lovegood stepped forward and made her way towards a table right at the front, closest to where Professor McGonagall was standing, with Hermione, Ginny and a handful of other seventh years from different houses. Kestrel noted Michael Corner following them walking beside a vaguely familiar Hufflepuff boy before others started shuffling into the hall to find a seat.

Kestrel ended up at a table near the front with her fellow Ravenclaws Rose Lytle and Patrick Kettering, Nathaniel Ford and Jessica Halton from Hufflepuff, Eleanor Pike, Rupert Jones and Aaron Smythe from Gryffindor and a Slytherin girl also in their year called Penny Smoak. Once all the students and staff were seated, and the first years had been brought in and were standing by the west wall to wait, Professor McGonagall raised her hand for silence.

"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, and may I thank you all for returning. In a moment the Sorting Ceremony will begin, but first I would like to draw your attention to the Entrance Hall. No doubt you will all have seen the new statue and the names on the walls. An Impervious charm has, of course, been placed on the statue, but I would ask everyone to remember that many in this room lost loved ones last year so, as a mark of respect for those who fought and died, please do not defile their names." There was a murmur of agreement and understanding around the hall, and many students were nodding. "I expect many of you are wondering about the new seating arrangements?" A lot of the students were nodding again. "The other Professors and I have decided to no longer split the houses for meals. You may sit where you like with whomever you wish. Given the outstanding resilience most of you exhibited last year we feel that allowing you all to mix and socialise with your fellow students from other houses will only help to broaden your minds and make you not only better Witches and Wizards, but also better people. I have never been more proud to see students from each house working together than I was last year. I am honoured to still be standing among you." Professor McGonagall seemed to be looking directly at Hermione and the others at that table now.

"But none of the Slytherins even stayed to fight." Whispered Rupert Jones.

"How would you know? You weren't here either." Penny Smoak hissed back.

"You lot left the hall first." Aaron Smythe retorted. "We all saw your entire house leave."

"Shh, the Sorting's starting." Rose Lytle hissed at all of them.

A little four-legged stool was placed in front of the High Table and the old Hogwarts Sorting Hat was placed upon it, looking more battered than ever.

"Wasn't that destroyed last year?"

"I swear I saw it on fire."

"Maybe they fixed it."

The rumours flew around the hall in hushed whispers as Professor Sprout, the plump Herbology teacher, called the terrified first years to stand behind the hat. This year its song was an account of the battle and a tribute to the fallen. When it had finished and the copious applause died down Professor Sprout unrolled a scroll of parchment and spoke to the first years.

"When I call your name come and sit on the stool and put on the Sorting Hat. Once sorted into your House you may join any table you like." She smiled warmly at them, but it didn't seem to help.

Around the hall students erupted into applause with each first year sorted into their house. Kestrel cheered with the other Ravenclaws as they got Abigail Burns, Jane Darling, Robert Gutterson, Alice Jacobs, Mark Kaiserman, Dorian Neagle, Fajer Raza, Kailing Tai, William Wakeling and Ruby Young. It was a little mad watching the first years trying to find empty seats. One or two had older siblings at the school already and chose to sit with them, but for the others it looked like a very uncomfortable experience. Alice Jacobs joined their table, as did Primrose Dearborn, a new Slytherin. Kestrel suspected the house tables would probably return for the welcome feast next year.

Once Faith Zimmerman had become a Gryffindor the hat and stool were removed. Professor Sprout sat as Professor McGonagall rose again. "Before we begin the feast I have a few announcements. First years should note that the Dark Forest at the edge of the school grounds is strictly forbidden to all students. We also have a few new staff appointments."

Kestrel looked around with interest. A handful of new teachers were sitting at the High Table. Professor Byrd, a small angular Witch with wild hair that made her look like she'd tried to transfigure herself into an owl and failed, became the new Muggle Studies teacher; Professor Gable, a tall Wizard with short salt-and-pepper hair and green velvet robes would be taking over from Professor McGonagall as Transfiguration teacher; and Professor Iglehart, the most interesting looking of the lot with her mousey-brown hair, deep red robes and numerous scars, would be taking up the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Kestrel couldn't wait for her lessons to start, Professor Iglehart looked like she had some fascinating stories.

"Gryffindors please be aware that Professor Gable is your new Head of House. Now, I suggest we eat." The words had barely left her lips when mountains of food appeared on the serving dishes in the middle of the tables and the students began noisily tucking into their dinner. The atmosphere in the Great Hall seemed to lighten with the arrival of food, though conversation was still a little subdued. Kestrel ate more than she had all summer and decided she was glad to be back.


	4. Chapter 4 - Absent Friends

**Chapter 4 - Absent Friends**

Once the last of the desserts had been cleared away and the plates and goblets returned to their original state of cleanliness Professor McGonagall sent them to bed. Kestrel could just hear, over the sound of hundreds of scraping chairs, Professor Sprout saying "I think that went quite well." She grinned and followed Gillian Pickering, a sixth year Ravenclaw Prefect, up to their tower. A group was already gathering outside the handleless door with the bronze eagle knocker.

"What's the question?" Someone near the back shouted. Nicolas Bumpkin, a third year, knocked loudly and the corridor fell silent as the eagle began to speak.

"What asks, but never answers?" The musical voice said. A quiet chattering filled the corridor as the Ravenclaws began trying to work out the answer.

"What's going on?" Asked Alice Jacobs, the first year girl had stuck to Kestrel like superglue since leaving their table.

"To get into our common room you need to be able to answer the question." Kestrel explained. "It's always worth making sure you've got everything for the day in your bag before you leave for breakfast. It's not unusual to find a dozen of us out here trying to get in."

"But what if you get it wrong?"

"You have to wait out here for someone else to get it right. That way you learn." Alice did not seem to like this idea.

"Ask again!" someone else called and the corridor fell into silence once more as there was another knock and the eagle repeated its question.

"What asks, but never answers?"

"You?" A tired sixth year boy suggested.

The knocker seemed to think about this for a moment before saying "Fair enough" and allowing the door to swing open. The Ravenclaws piled into their common room, home at last.

"Was that really the answer?" Alice asked skeptically.

"I doubt it," Kestrel replied "but it was sort of true so I guess it decided to accept it."

"Does it do that often?"

"Now and then. I think it likes seeing what we come up with."

Alice stopped short and stared. Kestrel grinned, their common room really was a sight to behold. It was round, with high arched windows hung with blue and bronze silk curtains. During the day the Ravenclaws had a spectacular view of the school grounds and surrounding mountains. The midnight blue carpet echoed the starry domed ceiling above and around the walls were towering bookshelves crammed full of enormous old volumes, though not a single one was ever dusty. Tables and chairs littered the room, and a great fireplace was set into one side. In a niche opposite the door, beside the door to the dormitory stairs, stood a white marble statue of their house founder, Rowena Ravenclaw.

Gillian called the first years over to her, no doubt to give the same speech she'd given on Kestrel's first night, and Kestrel took the opportunity to escape up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Her trunk was already beside her bed when she arrived, and the large four-poster with sky blue hangings was calling to her. Three of the other four girls who shared the dormitory were already there unpacking and putting up decorations.

"Hey, Kes, how was summer?" Asked Myra Utterback, a tall blonde.

"Alright, I guess. The muggles don't really know what's been happening, and I can't exactly talk to any of my old school friends, they'd think I was nuts."

"Oh no!" Shrieked Rose, her flaming red hair whipping behind her as she grabbed Kestrel in a tight hug "I forgot you live with muggles. I meant to write, honest. I'm sorry! Mum and dad were so happy I was safe that they invited the whole family over for a summer of celebrations and it sort of slipped my mind."

"Same with us," piped up Veronica Quisenberry, a small girl who, this year, seemed to be sporting lilac hair "we haven't stopped celebrating all summer. My little sister got so excited by all the parties and everything that she accidentally turned everyone's hair different colours. It took mum weeks to change everyone back, but I kinda liked mine so she said I could keep it." Kestrel grinned, she'd never been allowed to dye her hair.

Four pairs of eyes simultaneously fell upon the empty fifth bed and their faces fell. There was no trunk beside it.

"Anyone know where…?" Kestrel began, but she was too afraid to finish the question. It had been fairly obvious, even standing on the platform at King's Cross, that a lot of the students weren't coming back. The other three shook their heads. That would explain the complete lack of letters and other post over the summer. The bed's occupant had been Liang Yu, Kestrel's best friend the previous year and the only other muggle born in their dormitory.

"Maybe her parents pulled her out of school." Rose suggested.

"Yeah, I think a bunch did…" said Myra cottoning onto what Rose was trying to do, but neither sounded like they really believed it. Liang wouldn't be coming back, and they all knew it.

Kestrel took out her wand and pointed it at the pillow of what had been her best friend's bed, trying to remember what she'd heard Hermione say in the Entrance Hall.

"Orchideous" she said quietly. A small wreath of flowers formed on the pillow as Rose, Myra and Veronica added their own.

Kestrel did not sleep well that night.

The whole of Ravenclaw Tower was woken up bright and early the next morning by the customary explosion in the common room and a voice calling "Sorry!". Kestrel grabbed her dressing gown and was down the dormitory stairs in it like a shot to see what was going on. It seemed several others had had the same idea.

Sitting under one of the high arched windows was a dishevelled looking fifth year boy called Zeke Oyler with a cauldron hissing violent purple smoke out of the thankfully open window.

"Bit volatile, that." observed Patrick, who had come racing down from the boys' dormitories.

"You tried adding something to calm it down?" A third year boy called.

"Maybe try beetle eyes?" A fifth year girl suggested.

"No, I can smell the knotgrass from here, it would just counteract them." Everyone in the common room was trying to find a way to help.

"What about adder's fork?"

"Are you kidding? That'd probably make it worse."

"Try moondew, that might calm it down."

"What was that noise?" Kestrel started at the sound of the small voice beside her. Alice and the other first years had appeared on the stairs.

"Zeke," she explained "he's always experimenting with spare potions ingredients. See that mark on the wall over there?" Kestrel pointed underneath another of the towering windows where a scorch mark had burned so deeply that the stone wall was permanently blackened. Alice nodded. "He did that last year when his potion caught fire. We still don't know exactly what he used. Nearly had the Carrows on us though, but we're not the smartest house in the school for nothing. By the time they got here that burn was the only thing left, not that they managed to get through the door anyway."

Alice stared wide-eyed, but it was one of the others who spoke next.

"Who are the Carrows?" It was Ruby, a scared, but awed girl.

"Nasty little shi-"

"Trick!" Kestrel scolded.

"Sorry. They weren't nice people, put it that way. Death Eaters, the pair of them." Patrick explained. "Strung Kes here up by her wrists in the dungeons once, just for having muggle parents." The first years gasped.

"Only a bit…" said Kestrel, but she wasn't convincing.

The pair spent the next five minutes trying to calm the younger girls down before Gillian the Prefect came over to see what was wrong.

"Honestly," Kestrel berated once she and Patrick were dressed and on their way down to breakfast in the Great Hall "they're eleven, you didn't have to scare them."

"I was bloody terrified most of last year, how come they're allowed to be all innocent and stuff?" Patrick complained.

"Just be nice." Kestrel sighed eventually, though she couldn't help feeling like her friend was right. Why did they get to be wide-eyed and excited when everyone else was still hurting? She rubbed her wrists, which still twinged on occasion. No, that wasn't fair. Just because A, that did not mean B. She shook the thought from her mind as they found a couple of spare seats with Nathaniel and Jessica.

The teachers had clearly hit a bit of a snag in their new table arrangements: they couldn't find their students to give them their timetables. Eventually, after much confusion, it was decided that students would go to their Heads of House at the High Table to collect them. They regretted that almost instantly, as it meant not one of the Heads of House got more than about five seconds to eat their breakfast, but they clearly decided to suffer it for one meal. Kestrel was convinced that the four long house tables would be back next year.

"Double Charms!" Patrick grinned, staring at his timetable before shovelling a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"Followed by Potions, Transfiguration and Astronomy." Kestrel groaned. "I hate having Potions after meals, I always feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Yeah, but Slughorn's alright, and we'll get to test out Professor Gable. That should at least be interesting."

"Unless he's like the Carrows." Nathaniel said, joining them again.

"I don't reckon Professor McGonagall would hire anyone like them." Said Patrick with certainty.

All the Ravenclaws respected Professor McGonagall immensely, she was one of the few non-Ravenclaws in the school who could get into their common room if she wanted to. Kestrel had been hiding on the dormitory stairs with several others when she'd opened the door for Amycus Carrow, only to find his sister stunned on the floor. Then she'd fiercely defended the students when he'd wanted to blame them for summoning the Dark Lord. She'd strung both the Carrows up in a net from the ceiling of the common room before leaving with Luna and the boy everyone got excited about: Harry Potter. Professor Flitwick had squeaked in terror at the sight of them when he'd come to get the students for the evacuation, and the Ravenclaws assumed the two Death Eaters had remained tied up in their common room for the fighting that had undoubtedly ensued once this great evil Wizard arrived.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Agreed Jessica, helping herself to some bacon. "She's too sensible for that."

Kestrel had stopped listening. She was scanning her eyes over her timetable, searching.

"Wednesday morning," she sighed "double lesson, but still…"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Nathaniel asked. Kestrel nodded. "I was looking for it too. Our first's after lunch today."

"Wonder what she'll teach us." Mused Jessica with vague interest. "I mean, we already know some pretty dark stuff, and it's not like there's some big bad just waiting out there for us."

"You want to pay more attention to history," Kestrel sighed "there's always a big bad out there somewhere."

"I doubt it'll be anything new to _us_ anyway." Said Patrick confidently. He, like Kestrel, had been taught by Luna and the other DA Ravenclaws the previous year. They'd made a mess of the common room, but Luna and Cho had decided it was probably safer than going back to the Room of Requirement since the Carrows couldn't get in and Professor Snape had never tried. Most of the Ravenclaws had learned a new spell or two during those sessions, even if they weren't actually paying attention. Kestrel supposed it would have been quite difficult to ignore the first years being sent flying across the room. Her Weasley cloak had come in very handy.


	5. Chapter 5- Defence Against the Dark Arts

**Chapter 5 - Defence Against the Dark Arts**

They finished their breakfast and hurried up to Charms, leaving Nathaniel and Jessica in the Entrance Hall as the Hufflepuffs headed down into the dungeons for Potions.

"So good to see you all," squeaked their tiny Head of House, beaming as they took their seats "welcome back, welcome back. Today we will be learning a charm to slow the movement of falling objects or persons. The incantation is 'Arresto Momentum'. Say it together now."

"Arresto momentum." The class chanted.

"Excellent! Now, divide into pairs. Good. One of you will throw a cushion into the air" Professor Flitwick waved his wand and a stack of cushions in the corner began distributing itself "and the other will try to slow its progress to the floor. Then you can swap over so everyone has a turn. Everybody ready? Ok, begin!"

By the end of the double lesson both Kestrel and Patrick had successfully slowed down their cushions to land almost silently on the floor.

"Very good, very good!" Professor Flitwick beamed as they packed their bags "next lesson we'll try something heavier."

Lunch was excellent as ever, but the afternoon Potions lesson was every bit as nauseating as Kestrel had anticipated as they ladled Flobberworm mucus and Horklump juice into their cauldrons in an attempt to produce a Herbicide potion. By the time they left for their first Transfiguration lesson of the year nearly half the class was slimy and there was a pungent yellow smoke collecting in the dungeon ceiling. The Ravenclaws chatted excitedly all the way up to the third floor, much to the irritation of the many Gryffindors they'd had Potions with, who were all trying to talk about their morning Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. The Ravenclaws, however, were eagerly anticipating their chance to test the new Transfiguration teacher.

Professor Gable, it turned out, was less strict than Professor McGonagall had been, and chatted happily with them as they filed into the familiar classroom. This ended when they discovered that the object of the lesson was to see what they were capable of, and therefore meant a lot of concentrating. Running through everything Professor McGonagall had taught them felt incredibly anticlimactic to the disappointed Ravenclaws.

Astronomy was the same as ever and was the only class that day to involve a homework assignment: label a star chart, as per usual. Tuesday droned on, not least because the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were forced to endure two History of Magic lessons with Hogwarts' only ghost teacher. Professor Binns, it was common knowledge, hadn't realised he was dead and was, without a doubt, the single most boring teacher Kestrel had ever encountered in her life, which was a shame since the Goblin rebellions might otherwise have been quite interesting. The only small mercy was that lunch happened to be in the middle of what would otherwise have been a double lesson.

Wednesday morning brought what every second year Ravenclaw had been looking forward to: their first ever Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson. It was a pity they were sharing it with the Slytherins.

"I hear this is the first time you've been taught defence." Professor Iglehart said calmly once everyone was seated. Her voice had a gravelly, almost husky quality to it. The class nodded. "Last year you were taught the Dark Arts." Again it wasn't really a question, but the class all nodded anyway. "Why don't we see what you learned last year and we'll go from there?" This time it was a question. Some of the class hesitated, others looked interested, and Kestrel was interested to note that this wasn't split exclusively by house.

Professor Iglehart had each and every student name something they had learned in Dark Arts the previous year. The Slytherins had been taught some pretty nasty sounding curses; clearly Amycus Carrow, the Dark Arts teacher, had favoured them above the other houses. Kestrel named the Flagrante curse which, if performed correctly, supposedly made objects burn anyone who touched them, but she'd never been able to cast it properly. Penny Smoak, on the other hand, would have happily performed a particularly disgusting entrail-expelling curse she'd learned had she been allowed to.

"Yes, nasty one, that. Not much that can put it right again afterwards either." Professor Iglehart had said amidst the general revulsion.

There was an impressive range of curses named in that first ten minutes, and though she tried valiantly not to show it Kestrel could tell their new Professor was concerned. She could only imagine what it must look like to an outsider, having twenty twelve-year-olds reeling off a list of as many Dark spells as casually as though they were the ingredients in yesterday's dinner. One quiet Ravenclaw boy called Benjamin Vale had even conjured something that looked like a snake coming out of the mouth of a skull in greenish smoke above his desk, to several horrified gasps and the apparition's immediate removal. Kestrel was going to ask Patrick what it was, but he quickly gave her a look that clearly said now was not the time.

Once everyone had named or performed something the class fell silent.

"Well," Professor Iglehart said, regaining her composure after the skull and snake spell "many other Professors would tell you to forget all those, but I won't. Except for the Dark Mark, mister Vale, I strongly suggest you never conjure that again." Benjamin looked thoroughly ashamed of himself. "I will, however, expect you all to refrain from using those particular spells, unless your life depends upon them. Our world is at peace, proper peace, for the first time since the rise of You-Know-Who twenty years ago and I for one would like it to remain that way. No doubt another Dark Wizard will turn up eventually, but I hope to be long gone by then." She paused to gauge their reactions. "How much can you tell me about Dark creatures? Can anyone name any?" Several hands rose tentatively into the air. "Yes, mister Kettering."

"Giants?" said Patrick, a little unsure.

"Aha," Professor Iglehart smiled "while the majority of Giants did ally themselves with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, they aren't inherently Dark. Anyone else? Yes, mister Button."

"Red Caps?" The Slytherin boy suggested.

"An excellent example, yes. Red Caps attack travellers in order to use their blood to dye their caps, thus their name. As this does not constitute an act of survival and is purely for malicious purposes Red Caps are considered Dark creatures. Good, what else?" Kestrel raised her hand again, slowly. "Miss Everett."

"Dementors?" The room fell silent. Of course they all knew what those were, they had been everywhere last year. Even the muggles, who couldn't see them, had felt their presence.

"Yes, Dementors are most certainly Dark creatures, perhaps even the darkest of all. A Dementor sucks out their victims' happiness, draining them of it, so they can feed upon the despair that fills the void. They force their victims to relive their very worst memories. The muggles call the effect 'depression'. It makes one feel-"

"Like you'll never be cheerful again…"

"Well said, miss Smoak." Kestrel was interested to see an almost dead look in Penny's eyes. "Yes, that is precisely the feeling. Furthermore, if a Dementor gets close enough it may administer what is known as the Dementors' Kiss." One or two students snorted with barely silent laughter. "It is no laughing matter. A Dementors' Kiss sucks out the victim's soul, leaving them hollow inside. Oh they'll continue to live, but will never truly be alive again, and there is no cure. A Dementors' Kiss is a fate worse than death." Some of the class visibly shuddered. "Do you know how to fight them?" Professor Iglehart asked, looking directly at Kestrel with interest.

"The Patronus Charm." Kestrel replied. It had been one of the things Luna and the others had taught them. Hers didn't have a shape or anything, but she had managed to produce a thin, wispy sort of smoke shield once or twice.

"Yes, the Patronus Charm." Professor Iglehart smiled. "Very advanced magic, exceptionally difficult to master, but very useful if you can. Not only does a Patronus ward off Dementors, it can be used as a messenger. Expecto Patronum!" Professor Iglehart waved her wand and a bright, silvery fox shot out of the end of it. The class gasped with excitement as it ran once around the room and vanished.

They spent the rest of the lesson reading about counter-curses and shield charms. None of them said anything, but most of the second year Ravenclaws could already perform the shield charm, thanks to Luna and the others. However, Professor Iglehart didn't set them much homework, only to find the counter-curse or shield charm that would work against the spell they'd named at the start of the lesson.

"Did you get the same homework as us?" Nathaniel asked when Kestrel and Patrick arrived for lunch. "Find the counter to a curse you named earlier?"

"Yeah." Kestrel sighed, helping herself to a large serving of shepherd's pie.

"How screwed are you?" Kestrel said nothing, but looked darkly at him as she ate.

"That bad, huh?" Jessica asked.

"She said the Flagrante curse." Patrick explained. The pained expressions on the Hufflepuffs' faces said they understood.

"You reckon Finite Incantatum would work?" Kestrel asked.

"Dunno, maybe. Research it." Shrugged Patrick.

"Hey, how come we never see any Ravenclaws in the library?" Jessica asked suddenly, genuinely curious.

"We have our own in our common room." Patrick said through a mouthful of pie.

"What? That's not fair." Moaned Nathaniel.

"I think previous students just kept leaving their books behind when they left, so I guess we got some shelves." Kestrel supplied, cutting off Patrick, who was about to spray the table with pie again.

Astronomy and double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs just weren't interesting after that first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, and Kestrel found it quite difficult to concentrate on her mandrakes.

Kestrel spent nearly six hours that night trying to find a way to counter the Flagrante curse, berating her own need to be seen to be clever. She actually had Michael Corner curse one of her porcupine quills so she could test possible solutions. It turned out that Finite Incantatum did not work to counter the effects, as a hole in the sleeve of her robes could attest. By one o'clock in the morning the best she had come up with was an Impervious charm on the scarf she was using to pick up her now rather dangerous potions ingredient.

Being unable to remove the curse from her porcupine quill, Kestrel gave it to Zeke, who immediately dropped it into his bubbling cauldron. The potion within squelched slightly and turned a vivid reddish colour, and he hastily scribbled a few notes muttering "Fascinating…" to himself.

As it turned out the Impervious charm was the only thing Professor Iglehart could think of to counteract the Flagrante curse, and Kestrel earned five house points for ingenuity.

* * *

 **A/N:** Shout out to Aiden! Thanks for reading, everyone! If you have any ideas you think would make good peril/antagonist forces in this story just let me know!


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